VERY IMPORTANT GHOSTS OF THE CENTRAL CEMETERY Few places have a lot of symbolic value in this country, like the Walls of Cartagena, The Bridge of Boyacá and the Central Cemetery Bogota. Usually, It ´s considered a space for religious practices, it´s also a center of mythical creation, resulting in an imaginary own social sectors who visit it and appropriate it to their rituals and celebrations. Most people think that the cemetery is the place where the souls live, and it concentrating power and mysteries. The idea in these places is the use of this power and people want to benefit of anyway. It is the foundation that encourages magical thinking that produce some rituals like carry flowers to the tombs. Communication with the spirits is shaped by ritual, but there is some room where people believe their own celebrations and encourage others to imitate them. Usually, women are who fosters devotion to certain tombs and they tell how to enforce the rules of the ritual. In this context of religious and folk saints arise magic rituals like Leo Kopp, and Julio Garavito. Below there is a little description about these myths.
Leo Kopp Leo Kopp was born on 14 August of 1858 in Germany. He immigrated to Colombia during the Second World War. When he arrives to Colombia, He creates the Bavaria Company in the neighborhood San Diego in Bogota in front of the National Museum. He was Famous because he was very generous, and he always gave a job for people that needed it, even currently he is named "The Saint of work". He died in 1927, and over his tomb there is a sculpture in honor to him. It´s in position like waiting for something.
The story tells that one day Mrs. Maria, from the perseverance neighborhood of Bogotá, was very desperate for their economic situation. She went to Central cemetery to visit the grave of her husband, but when she was there, she saw the tomb of Mr. Kopp, and she felt attracted for the sculpture over the tomb of Mr.
Kopp and she got close it to clean the figure´s ear and she whispered your problems, to looking for help. Since that day, this story became very common between all people and many people go to the tomb of Mr. Kopp and they whisper to the ear to ask favors or help for their economic situation or to ask for a job that is the main reason. According to a lot people Mr. Kopp is very miraculous.
Julio Garavito The tradition began about ten years ago, when a woman named Salome died. She was a Lady of the neighborhood Santa Fe that helped a lot to prostitutes and the neighborhood transvestites. Her body was buried next to Julio Garavito´s tomb, then his tomb became request Center. Years later, the body was exhumed and consequently believers moved their petitions to tomb of Garavito, who was famous and his photo came out in the bills of twenty thousand pesos. Some prostitutes arrive at about three in the afternoon. All with blue flowers. When they arrive, they located around the tomb and each began to whisper lord ´s prayer and avemarías intermingled with some written phrases. Then, they take their bills of twenty thousand pesos and they rub it over the tomb, as if the energy of the body of Garavito get into the notes to multiply the money in the week. This story is very common between people that work in the Santa Fe neighborhood and according with them, always they have great profits during week. I conclusion with the passage of time new cults appear. Other persons occupy a place within the saints of miraculous, and devotees improvise new rituals and offerings the reason is that very important people of our country are buried here like the General Francisco the Paula Santander, Rafael Pombo, Luis Carlos Galan, and the General Rojas Pinilla between others. By Luisa Pedraza and David Parra